I think that we can all agree that Faye and Bubbles' little enterprise is not the money-spinner that they hoped. They are probably going to be only barely breaking even this month, if they're lucky. So, something is going to have to be done; there must be a bold new strategy if Union Robotics is to be a success! What do you think that they need to do?

The idea that really interests me is them (unwisely) trying to make themselves 'cool' by trying to leverage the more interesting aspects of their lives, such as by exaggerating their peripheral role in bringing down Corpse Witch and The VesperVenger. This has the unanticipated (and unwelcome) consequence of people coming to them to look for help with problem local petty criminals rather than to actually get robot repairs. Because this isn't exactly their area of expertise, they ask Roko (law) and May (criminal psychology) for advice and, somehow, the whole thing turns into a Vaudeville re-imagination of Heroes for Hire.

More sensibly, I really, really would like to see them asking May or maybe Melon to hand out fliers. This has unpredictable consequences as their 'marketing manager' has some unique ideas for drumming up custom.

Pay customers for referrals. Word of mouth is the most effective advertising. We've seen enough synthetics who need repair that it's a good chance almost every Union Robotics customer knows another potential customer.

And, while I do like Fayes approach, it doesn't solve their monetary problems.Something has to happen soon, or they will be out of business… and don't forget, in that case, they will take Dora down with them.

I just hope they'll not just get saved in the last minute by a convenient deus ex machina.

Wait, what am I saying - they have all the spare parts and labor they need!

I still think Sam's sprays might be their saviour. That, and word-of-mouth.

Actually, Faye had a box of hands earlier - I wonder if Punchbot's arm parts have come in yet? He's a CPA - probably could pay pretty well, especially if they beef up his punching arm a bit! Maybe a sledgehammer attachment for the hand?

I'm pretty sure what Faye is doing is something called 'displacement'. In other words, she doesn't want to think about their problems so she's focussing on something that she knows that they will enjoy. It's an understandable reaction but it doesn't really fix any of their problems, does it?

Longer-term readers may remember that Faye once tried to tickle Bubbles' belly only to be dryly (if somewhat embarrassedly) informed that Bubbles never downloaded the software to have a 'ticklish' reaction. I'm wondering if panel 4 means that Bubbles finally got around to installing that app or if not having the software to respond doesn't stop her from being sensitive there. It's a useful thing to know for Faye if she wants to derail Bubbles' train of thought, obviously.

I'm pretty sure what Faye is doing is something called 'displacement'. In other words, she doesn't want to think about their problems so she's focussing on something that she knows that they will enjoy. It's an understandable reaction but it doesn't really fix any of their problems, does it?

If it helps them de-stress so they're in a more balanced frame of mind to approach the rest of their problems, then yeah, it might.

One fling after hours does not a compulsive desire to run from their problems make.

One fling after hours does not a compulsive desire to run from their problems make.

Your are order not in the words right.

It's technically incorrect, but "An X does not a Y make" is a common expression in English, though, from what I understand. Living language does not necessarily always make sense from a prescriptivist perspective.

Or, you already knew that and were simply joking, in which case the joke went over my head, and I apologise

One fling after hours does not a compulsive desire to run from their problems make.

Your are order not in the words right.

It's technically incorrect, but "An X does not a Y make" is a common expression in English, though, from what I understand. Living language does not necessarily always make sense from a prescriptivist perspective.

Or, you already knew that and were simply joking, in which case the joke went over my head, and I apologise

"it sounded better in my head" is a perfectly acceptable excuse, plus you did have a point.

Any number of reasons. Jeph is getting on my nerves lately and I may just chuck reading the comic due to it. It's distracting, it's got nothing to do with it, could easily be put elsewhere so it doesn't take away from what draws people to the site. We get it, he is pissed off about everything. That's what twitter is for, which he rants on all of the time...

But since I dared to question his holiness Saint Jeph nobody will likely read this because the mods will delete it.

Any number of reasons. Jeph is getting on my nerves lately and I may just chuck reading the comic due to it. It's distracting, it's got nothing to do with it, could easily be put elsewhere so it doesn't take away from what draws people to the site. We get it, he is pissed off about everything. That's what twitter is for, which he rants on all of the time...

But since I dared to question his holiness Saint Jeph nobody will likely read this because the mods will delete it.

If you don't like it you are welcome to not read. It is Jeph's comic he can do with it what he wants.

Any number of reasons. Jeph is getting on my nerves lately and I may just chuck reading the comic due to it. It's distracting, it's got nothing to do with it, could easily be put elsewhere so it doesn't take away from what draws people to the site. We get it, he is pissed off about everything. That's what twitter is for, which he rants on all of the time...

But since I dared to question his holiness Saint Jeph nobody will likely read this because the mods will delete it.

Pretty dim view of Jeph and the mods there. I'd like to also say an inaccurate one, but that'd be getting into semantics.

I haven't read a newspost before you flagged it in years, and not through deliberate choice but accidentally, because of how easy it is just not to scroll that far. I recommend the same tactic if his news posts are that big an issue for you.

Any number of reasons. Jeph is getting on my nerves lately and I may just chuck reading the comic due to it. It's distracting, it's got nothing to do with it, could easily be put elsewhere so it doesn't take away from what draws people to the site. We get it, he is pissed off about everything. That's what twitter is for, which he rants on all of the time...

But since I dared to question his holiness Saint Jeph nobody will likely read this because the mods will delete it.

Pretty dim view of Jeph and the mods there. I'd like to also say an inaccurate one, but that'd be getting into semantics.

I haven't read a newspost before you flagged it in years, and not through deliberate choice but accidentally, because of how easy it is just not to scroll that far. I recommend the same tactic if his news posts are that big an issue for you.

I'm just baffled by how someone could read this far into the comic and apparently be unaware that Jeph is interested in civil rights... or that his interest in civil rights might be part of what draws people to his comic.

I think we are going into sketchy territory here and it certainly isn't discussion of this week's comics. A complaint was raised and has been addressed and further discussion can be via PM with mods or in the moderation discussion thread in Discuss if the people so desire. Let's get back to the storylines.

One fling after hours does not a compulsive desire to run from their problems make.

Your are order not in the words right.

It's technically incorrect, but "An X does not a Y make" is a common expression in English, though, from what I understand. Living language does not necessarily always make sense from a prescriptivist perspective.

Or, you already knew that and were simply joking, in which case the joke went over my head, and I apologise

"it sounded better in my head" is a perfectly acceptable excuse, plus you did have a point.

Fun fact, it sounded just as bad in my head and I wrote it anyway, as a whimsical excuse to seriously abuse the "an X does not a Y make" idiom. I sometimes like to abuse language/talk like Yoda.

Wouldn't it be amusing if this is the moment that they receive a deluge of customers?

Having been self-employed for the past several years, I can state with confidence that this would be very typical of the shit the Fates like to throw at you. Get it on while you can, Ladies. When the big wave hits you won't know whether to "shit or go blind." And then the phone won't ring for weeks on end.

So, today's strip makes me think that Faye and Bubbles have decided to do various odd-jobs for extra revenue. It seems a fairly sensible option (which is one of the reasons I didn't think of it whilst setting up the poll). However, I still wonder if it might lead to adventure, especially if (like Disney's Kim Possible) they aren't too careful about the wording of their ads. for example, consider what this ad seems to communicate as opposed to its intent:

Quote

Local TroubleshootersIf you've got a problems, call us! We've got the tools and we can do anything!Call xxxxx-xxx-xxx or twitter @fayeandbubzUR

There are two or three perfectly valid interpretations of this advert, only one of which is accurate and the others could lead Faye and Bubbles to several unexpected outcomes!

However, onto the point of today's strip, which is poor Claire still stressing out. Yes, that's her stressed-out smile in panel 2. It's worrying that it literally doesn't occur to her to take a break. I'm also more than a little worried about the fact that she wants to appear like a 'real student'. I'm guessing that she's fast approaching the 'bend before you break' moment here!

efindumb

After first reassuring our trans* members that the people who own and operate this place are solidly on the side of their civil rights.

Got it. Complaining about Jeph post now equates to an attack on supporting civil rights and is transphobic. Sorry for daring to go against the tide again and am unwelcome. Please delete my account then.

Got it. Complaining about Jeph post now equates to an attack on supporting civil rights and is transphobic. Sorry for daring to go against the tide again and am unwelcome. Please delete my account then.

How perversely wrong can you be? It's nothing to do with complaining about it's being a post by Jeph - he merely pointed out a hateful thing that the US government is aiming to do and suggested that people might like to protest about it in whatever way they feel able to. I would suggest that this cannot be viewed as a bad thing unless you also hold and support the views which he's warning of, or at the very least think that protesting against them is not appropriate.

Logged

"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."(from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"(from: The Eccentric Family )

Pintsize: Déjà vuBubbles: And now for something completely different.Pintsize: This is Déjà vu all over again.

May: Are you embarrassed easily? Pintsize: I am. Well not really.May: Do any of these words (farts) embarrass you? Pintsize: Shoe, megaphone, grunties, trouser cough.May: Now lets go on to something far ruder. Pintsize: Wankle rotary engine.

May: That reminds me of a question I had that I wanted to ask much earlier on but got ...Pintsize: BUTTS May: May: Where was I? Pintsize: This feels like Déjà vu all over again.May: Oh yes, what type of power source does this concrete saw use? A two stroke Briggs and Stratton or maybe a four stroke by Motomaster? Pintsize: She said stroke, heh heh heh heh ......

Bubbles:

Logged

A good pun is it's own reword.There is a difference between spare parts, extra parts and left over parts.

The Venn diagram for Common Sense and Good Sense has very little, if any, overlap.

In lighter subject matter, I badly need a coffee shop near that sells a $12 WTF size Latte. Funny details like this are among many things i love about QC.

Probably near you is a shop that will sell you a WTF-sized coffee drink, maybe even an espresso, for considerably less than 12 bucks, and you can keep the thermal mug (which we used to call a "pitcher"). As a bonus, you can buy gasoline out front for your car.

Logged

"We are who we pretend to be. So we had better be careful who we pretend to be." -- Kurt Vonnegut.